Page 28 of Wolf's Forbidden Curse

“As much as I agree with you,” I said. “I think you’re worrying a bit too much about everyone else. You need to take a breather and just focus on relaxing a bit before your class starts in a few days.”

“That’s not the worst idea…”

“You want to come to the rec center with me? I was thinking about swimming some laps while it’s still nice out. I heard there might be rain later today.”

“You want to go swimming after eating all this food?”

“I was going to wait an hour. Give or take.”

“Even still.” He shook his head. “That sounds like a side cramp waiting to happen. No, thank you. I think I’ll just go for a walk along the water. Help my body digest a little.”

“Suit yourself.” I pushed my chair back and smiled. He tried to take some money out of his pocket, but I waved him off. “Don’t worry about it. This one’s on me.”

“You sure?”

“Positive.”

Matt put his bills back in his pocket and smiled. “Thanks, man. I’ll get you next time.”

“I’m not worried about it,” I said. “With all the extra shifts I’ve taken on in order to avoid sitting at home with Nic all day, I’m feeling pretty flush. Oh—but don’t tell her I said that.”

“Which part?”

“Any of it. You never know what’s going to set her off these days, and I feel like the little jabs and jokes I used to make all the time are pissing her off more than usual.” A thought occurred to me, and my eyes widened. “Hey, you don’t think she’s seeing someone or something, do you? Could it be she’s so crabby because she got dumped or stood up or something?”

“Could be, but I don’t know. Nic doesn't seem the type to really care about that stuff. In fact, now that you mention it, I don’t think she’s dated a single person for as long as I’ve known her.”

“You’ve known her your entire life.”

He smiled. “Exactly.”

CHAPTER 12

KATRINA

The clouds overhead started to darken soon after I arrived at the beach, but I decided to walk anyway. My phone informed me that it wasn’t supposed to start raining for another hour or two, and I liked that there weren’t many people lounging on the sand. Watching the tide flow in and out as I strolled helped calm a lot of the stress I’d brought along with me. I was still terrified of what would happen on the next full moon, but the strength and beauty of the ocean were grounding no matter what a person was going through.

My mind wandered as I went, and I thought back to what Missy had said about the stories surrounding Solara Bay. I’d lived in places where ghost stories were discussed as casually and authentically as stories about one dropping their clothes off at the dry cleaners might be, but comparatively, this part of the world struck me as fairly tame.

Then again, this was the place where I first turned into a werewolf, so there was that… And the man who ran the fortune-telling shop in town seemed to know a lot more about what I was dealing with than the average person would.

So maybe there was a little bit of truth to the rumors Missy had heard. That still didn’t explain why she seemed so interested in said rumors. I hoped she wasn’t secretly some weirdo who would drag Al into the world of conspiracies and paranoia. He deserved better.

“Hey, you!”

The voice pulled my train of thought off the tracks, and I brought my gaze up from the sand. A man I vaguely recognized was jogging towards me. He was wearing jeans and a button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and he smiled knowingly as he approached.

“Katrina, right?”

I eyed him. “That depends, who are you?”

“My name’s Matt.” The man stuck his hand out for a shake. “I was at the bar with my buddy Rory the other night. I don’t think we actually met—or even talked—but I thought maybe you saw me.”

Rory’s friend.

I gulped and smiled, though I didn’t shake his hand. “Ah, I see. Nice to put a name to the face, I guess. But how did you know my name was Katrina?”

“Rory told me.”

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